A team from O’Melveny & Myers LLP including partner Robert Jones, counsel Andrew Parlen and Jennifer Taylor, associates Patricia Verdugo-Chatel, Jamie Oh, and Robert Pickering, along with former partner David Ezminger, among others, represented Verdugo Mental Health in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California.

 

O’Melveny is representing Verdugo on a pro bono basis during the proceedings.

 

Verdugo is a long-standing and highly respected nonprofit mental health agency providing low-cost services to more than 2,000 clients in Glendale and the surrounding areas. With the current financial climate, donations have declined making the agency’s long-term survival difficult. Verdugo seeks to pursue the sale of its key assets to Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services so that these critical mental health services remain available in the Glendale community. Verdugo will continue providing mental health services to its clients while it pursues an agreement for sale of its operations. With cooperation from the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development and the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health and the court’s approval, Didi Hirsch plans to continue services immediately after the sale closes—at the same location on Colorado Street in Glendale, California, with many of the same dedicated staff.

 

The prospects of a seamless transition are buoyed by both the support of that dedicated staff to maintain the mission of the treatment provider and the support of both the lender and local government agencies.

 

“We are confident that the client’s long-standing commitment to providing care and services to underserved communities in Los Angeles, along with our pro bono efforts, will be an important part of that transition,” Jones said.